Looking for a new Android phone

[Ryan Stewart]

What do you mean software skin?

So virtually all manufactuers put another layer of software on top of Android. None of it is "pure" android. Samsung has their own, LG has their own, Motorola (now to a lesser extent) has their own, etc.

Most of the features you see advertised for a given phone are unique to that manufacturer, they gloss over the stuff built into android because its not unique to them and would not differentiate them from the software on the other maker.

The issue with these software "skins" is that they often are poorly coded (LGs is one of the worst) resulting in bugs and poorer performance relative to better code. One big beef I have with them is when they replace standardized android functionality with their own, often creating issues with applications that are expecting a function to use a standard, well developed interface.

Just go play with phones at the store. Compare Samsung, HTC, Motorola, etc. You can see that not all android phones are the same(its the double edged sword).

Another issue is, when Google updates Android, the manufacturer has to update their skin and custom software and test it to make sure it will work with the new Android. That delays important security and functionality improvements.

A Nexus device is Google's, for the lack of a better analog, iPhone. They control the entire experience and only farm out the construction of the device itself. THe result is you only get the base code of Android and its using the same interfaces that are in the vast majority of android phones (and published by Google). Apps work better, phones perform well longer, you get updates faster.

The real kicker is Google is selling the damned things at cost because they know that getting you on Android helps them by allowing them to sell stuff in their markets and keeps you searching on Google.com. They are $350/$400 respectively UNLOCKED (meaning you can take them to any carrier but Verizon because they are assholes). You can buy one off of play.google.com for $300 and reigster it on Sprints/AT&Ts/T-Mobiles/Straight Talks/Vodafones/etc website even if you didnt have an upgrade. Most new phones go for 200-300 with you having to renew or $650+ if you dont have an upgrade.

Disclaimer: Ive had nexus devices going on 2.5 years, wont ever go back. Im currently on the previous Nexus and I am running the same version of OS, with the improvements, that Google just announced a couple of weeks ago. Occasionally I see a cool hardware design or feature but its never worth the usability hit or the fact that my phone always is current/secure. Also, Im on straight talk ($42-45 a month unlimited) so it saves me a shit-ton of money.

[golde30]

HTC One. Best smartphone I've ever had. Higher resolution display than the S4, and better build quality (not made of plastic). Mine is rooted running CyanogenMod 10.2 (Android 4.3), and it screams. Super fast, no issues with the phone whatsoever.

i am running the HTC ONE as well, and the build quality is on par with iphones, which i always felt were tough as nails(had the last 3 generations of iphone and dropped them hundreds of times without problem). Wife is running LG G2, screen is WAAAAAY better than HTC ONE, but feels cheap and flimsy like the Samsung Phones.

[Andrew325is]

My mom just got a Nexus 5 today. It's an awesome phone. I have an iPhone 5s, but I'm still kinda jealous. So that's the android phone I'd get!

[IronFreak]

So virtually all manufactuers put another layer of software on top of Android. None of it is "pure" android. Samsung has their own, LG has their own, Motorola (now to a lesser extent) has their own, etc.

Most of the features you see advertised for a given phone are unique to that manufacturer, they gloss over the stuff built into android because its not unique to them and would not differentiate them from the software on the other maker.

The issue with these software "skins" is that they often are poorly coded (LGs is one of the worst) resulting in bugs and poorer performance relative to better code. One big beef I have with them is when they replace standardized android functionality with their own, often creating issues with applications that are expecting a function to use a standard, well developed interface.

Just go play with phones at the store. Compare Samsung, HTC, Motorola, etc. You can see that not all android phones are the same(its the double edged sword).

Another issue is, when Google updates Android, the manufacturer has to update their skin and custom software and test it to make sure it will work with the new Android. That delays important security and functionality improvements.

A Nexus device is Google's, for the lack of a better analog, iPhone. They control the entire experience and only farm out the construction of the device itself. THe result is you only get the base code of Android and its using the same interfaces that are in the vast majority of android phones (and published by Google). Apps work better, phones perform well longer, you get updates faster.

The real kicker is Google is selling the damned things at cost because they know that getting you on Android helps them by allowing them to sell stuff in their markets and keeps you searching on Google.com. They are $350/$400 respectively UNLOCKED (meaning you can take them to any carrier but Verizon because they are assholes). You can buy one off of play.google.com for $300 and reigster it on Sprints/AT&Ts/T-Mobiles/Straight Talks/Vodafones/etc website even if you didnt have an upgrade. Most new phones go for 200-300 with you having to refornew or $650+ if you dont have an upgrade.

Disclaimer: Ive had nexus devices going on 2.5 years, wont ever go back. Im currently on the previous Nexus and I am running the same version of OS, with the improvements, that Google just announced a couple of weeks ago. Occasionally I see a cool hardware design or feature but its never worth the usability hit or the fact that my phone always is current/secure. Also, Im on straight talk ($42-45 a month unlimited) so it saves me a shit-ton of money.

What provider do you use? You really just sold my on the Nexus 5

[Jand3rson]

Another point for the One, NO OTHER smartphone on the market has the on-board audio capabilities that the One has with the amplified front-facing speakers. If you watch a lot of YouTube and other stuff on your phone using the on-board speakers, no other phone sounds as good. It was one of the main reasons I went with it, and it hasn't disappointed yet.

[Cletonius]

What provider do you use? You really just sold my on the Nexus 5

Ask and ye shall receive:

Also, Im on straight talk ($42-45 a month unlimited) so it saves me a shit-ton of money.

Also, if you want a Google experience phone you may want to consider the Moto X. It's available for $99 on republic, which is $25/mo for unlimited. Runs on Sprint's network so you'll need to make sure sprint service is good in Your area. Cheapest way to go by far.

[R3Z3N]

Either way, you really can not go wrong with your choices minus the S4 which gets quite laggy.

I myself wanted the battery life of the G2 which no other phone quite gets except the Note 3, second priority was camera, third was hopefully a healthy ROM choice.

What are your priorities in a phone? Battery? Camera? Carrier? etc?

[Andrew325is]

I noticed Sprint is offering a free year of service if you're a student if you buy a phone through Best Buy and they have the Nexus 5. They want $100 more for it than Google but who can argue with free service? The only problem is that most Sprint phones are locked so you'd be stuck with them after the year's up. It turns out though that the Sprint Nexus 5 is unlocked! My mom's is Sprint so I just stuck the AT&T SIM card from her old iPhone into her Nexus 5 and I called my phone. It works! It's good to know after the year is up you can switch to another carrier like Straight Talk. :)

[Ray Smoodiver]

HTC One. Best smartphone I've ever had. Higher resolution display than the S4, and better build quality (not made of plastic). Mine is rooted running CyanogenMod 10.2 (Android 4.3), and it screams. Super fast, no issues with the phone whatsoever.

Yea, Werds son.

I'm running a One BTB with a 5s (work and play) and am LOVING the One. I've never had an android phone before, and have hated previous Android software OS when I've played with them, but it's a really really slick setup right now.

[Cletonius]

I noticed Sprint is offering a free year of service if you're a student if you buy a phone through Best Buy and they have the Nexus 5. They want $100 more for it than Google but who can argue with free service? The only problem is that most Sprint phones are locked so you'd be stuck with them after the year's up. It turns out though that the Sprint Nexus 5 is unlocked! My mom's is Sprint so I just stuck the AT&T SIM card from her old iPhone into her Nexus 5 and I called my phone. It works! It's good to know after the year is up you can switch to another carrier like Straight Talk. :)

Read the fine print. Its a free year on a 2 year contract

[IronFreak]

Ask and ye shall receive:





Also, if you want a Google experience phone you may want to consider the Moto X. It's available for $99 on republic, which is $25/mo for unlimited. Runs on Sprint's network so you'll need to make sure sprint service is good in Your area. Cheapest way to go by far.

I need to look at something like this, We are on Sprint now and our phone bill (wife and I) is $175 a month........I just don't know if that's available in our area, I've never heard of it.

Either way, you really can not go wrong with your choices minus the S4 which gets quite laggy.

I myself wanted the battery life of the G2 which no other phone quite gets except the Note 3, second priority was camera, third was hopefully a healthy ROM choice.

What are your priorities in a phone? Battery? Camera? Carrier? etc?

Battery is a big one, I have pretty long days and my s2 has a blistering battery life of 4-5 hrs....constantly having to plug it in, and it's a new battery (3-4mths old). Carrier is big to, although I might look into "Republic" since it uses Sprint towers. Currently Sprint offers the best service and price in my area for what my wife and I need. She uses her phone for her home business so we get to write off the bill, but a cheaper monthly payout would always be nice. My s2 is also really laggy, ya it's old....but laggy gets old too, GPS on it BLOWS.....that's almost an understatement, sometimes it can't even find itself.

I want something that's going to perform well, long battery life, good camera, lot of storage. I'll be renewing my contract so I'm not really looking for a new service provider.

[Cletonius]

I need to look at something like this, We are on Sprint now and our phone bill (wife and I) is $175 a month........I just don't know if that's available in our area, I've never heard of it.




Battery is a big one, I have pretty long days and my s2 has a blistering battery life of 4-5 hrs....constantly having to plug it in, and it's a new battery (3-4mths old). Carrier is big to, although I might look into "Republic" since it uses Sprint towers. Currently Sprint offers the best service and price in my area for what my wife and I need. She uses her phone for her home business so we get to write off the bill, but a cheaper monthly payout would always be nice. My s2 is also really laggy, ya it's old....but laggy gets old too, GPS on it BLOWS.....that's almost an understatement, sometimes it can't even find itself.

I want something that's going to perform well, long battery life, good camera, lot of storage. I'll be renewing my contract so I'm not really looking for a new service provider.

The X has decent battery life from what I've heard.

I guess the benefit to republic's service is the WiFi handoff. Anywhere there's WiFi it's capable of making calls. That's why the service is so cheap. They basically require you to operate on the WiFi when available, which since your wife has a home based biz...

I'm on VZW and pay about what you pay, but if there was good sprint service where I live I'd switch in a heartbeat. It would be awesome to save ~$100/mo on phone service. My friend on republic loves it.

[IronFreak]

So I have a question about software skins......Say I buy a Nexus5 but get it for the sprint network it'll have the Sprint software skin on it? Even if I order it from say Amazon? But if I bought it outright from the Google Play store it would be software skin free? Would I be able to just take it to sprint and have it hooked up? Or could I do an app like CleanRom and fix the software skin issue?

[IronFreak]

^^^I feel like that old grandpa that can't figure out how to turn on the computer after asking those questions.........

[Cletonius]

So I have a question about software skins......Say I buy a Nexus5 but get it for the sprint network it'll have the Sprint software skin on it? Even if I order it from say Amazon? But if I bought it outright from the Google Play store it would be software skin free? Would I be able to just take it to sprint and have it hooked up? Or could I do an app like CleanRom and fix the software skin issue?

Kinda.

When a phone is put out the mfg decides whether to run stock android or skin it. The Nexus devices as well as most of the Motorola stuff runs stock Android.

As explained before, other manufacturers choose to skin android by replacing the stock apps and launcher with their own. The beauty of android is that if you don't like this you can install any number of replacement apps to get Your device to look/perform as you want. You could download Nova launcher and it would change the entire appearance of your phone. Kinda like using handcent over the stock SMS app.

Phones are the same whether sold via the carrier, amazon, or elsewhere. The only difference would be if a developer model was offered. The HTC one is offered as a sense device (sense is HTC's skin) as well as a stock android "Google experience" device. All the cool features like beats audio and the like are incorporated into sense so you'd lose out on them going with the Google experience device. IIRC the one is the only device offered today with this option.

Hopefully this explained it a little

Edit: cleanrom isn't an app. It's a ROM you flash onto your phone to replace the currently installed version of android.